This weeks prompt: Friend*
GO:
Making friends doesn’t come naturally to me. Ever since I was seven, and asked the girl in the patent leather shoes to be my friend. When she looked at me straight in the eye and replied, ‘No.’, something in me shriveled up.
To put my heart on the line, to offer it in friendship to would-be girlfriends was harder than offering it to boys. And I spent many years under this operating pattern, until sophomore year of college. That year was a turning point in my life, bringing with it a devastating trauma and new life in Christ, all within months. And I lived in a small townhouse with 7 other girls.
We met weekly for a self-led Bible/book study. We prayed together. We ate together, laughed, stayed up all night talking. We also fought over who didn’t do their dishes, how high the thermostat was turned up, and cried big tears over breakups. There was a peace that came with knowing that just because you had a disagreement about shower time, you knew you’d meet in the caf for lunch later, all things repaired.
That year, my friends invited a boy to be my date. We had decided to set each other up and go out as a big group, to a fancy dinner and school dance. They knew where my heart was, and they saw thru my thinly veiled desire to be known. So they invited a boy that I didn’t know I loved yet to be my date.
That boy is out in the garage right now, painting my kitchen cabinets white. Our son is sleeping upstairs.
Those girls taught me what it means to be a friend. They taught me how to be a friend. Many of us have husbands and babies, mortgages and careers now. But when we get together {which is rare but special}, we’re 20 again, back on Riverside Avenue, in Anderson Hall.
STOP
*Linking up with Five Minute Friday at the wonderful Lisa-Jo Baker‘s. Hop over to her place to find out the full scoop behind FMF, and to visit other posts that were freely written in just five minutes.
-anna
{girl with blog}
Love this…our friends teach us so much, don’t they? Even in my 30-somethings, I’m still learning from them…and I’m so thankful. Happy Friday, friend! Blessings! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this sweet story; it truly brought tears to my eyes and gave me a late night smile. How refreshing it is to celebrate friends!
Sounds lovely. Spiking jealousy in me!! 🙂
Miss those college friendships! Everyone was all up in everyone’s business in those days because it was just out there for everyone to see. Now it’s so easy to hide all our ugly. Too easy!
The power of friendship… brings so much healing…
Just a Girl who loves a Boy!! <3!
This is REALLY good! I met you on Instagram. Other than that I don’t know anything about you. I have had almost the opposite thing happen in my life. Everyone wanted to be my friend. That is, until my children grew up and moved away. I find myself suddenly lonely. My husband of 30 years travels 200 nights a year. We have always been involved in church, but several years ago, our denomination sued our Pastor & Board… Long story, but my hubby was on the Board. I feel like a homeless Christian. People ask me all the time where I attend church. Presumably they can tell how dear God is to me. I have no answer. I adore my Abba, but I’ve never experienced this level of loneliness. Thx 4 sharing your story. It’s exactly where I find myself today.
Anna you’re so lucky to have that group of friends. What a fun time I bet you have together now, the loud laughter and great memories……I can hear it now!
You’re so blessed!!
I’m actually tearing up here. This is such a wonderful post. I love the details in the patent leather shoes, and the girls who knew your heart. Wonderful!
It’s great to have friends who recognize the needs we have to be spurred forward into something new….great words!
Wonderful post.
That sounds like such a wonderful time with great friends. 🙂 I can tell ya, at that stage in my life, I had what I called friends, but I was burned so badly…more than I can fit into text to be read right now. God is an amazing healer, though. He is truly amazing and His timing is spot on. 🙂
It makes my heart so happy to read this and think about that year with you! It was the start of many very good things to come! 🙂
As the mother of one of those friends, I remember that event! I was so grateful that my daughter had such an amazing group of young women to share her college years with. Visiting her that year at the town home at Augsburg was so much fun!
Love!
What a beautiful piece and place to be. Thankful for friendships even when they are hard. Blessings.
How wonderful that you were blessed to have friends like that. And more wonderful still that you still see each other sometimes. Friendships are truly a blessing – in good and bad times. …smiles…
so beautiful! I have found the best of friends are the ones who’ve prayed together with me too…so glad you shared!
I love the story you told with this about your husband- so cute! So wonderful to be able to count on your friends like that. 🙂
A lovely 5-minute post about the value of true friends! And on an unrelated-but-related note, I like the picket fence detail on your post titles with the design tweaks.
Great post on cherished friendship.
I always had an easy time making friends, except for one reason or another most of them never “stuck”. It can be hard to find those true blues that stick around forever. Now there is a good group of friends-finding you your future Mr. 😀 That worked out nicely!
Sweet, sweet, sweet story… Thanks for sharing at Lisa Jo’s
Sue
I saw you on the In courage site today, you definitely would be someone I would love to get to know some day, love your story and your blog.
This post was so beautifully written, Anna! Hugs, friend.
Ok, that sounds wonderful! I want to be there too!!!
You know what’s really cool to think about? As much as you think those girls are amazing and beautiful and that you are so lucky to have them in your life – what could you have possibly done to deserve them? They feel the same way about you!
Thanks for introducing me to FMF – I started this week!
http://raisingamommy.blogspot.com/2013/05/fmf-brave.html